Queen Street (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: 奎因街; ms, Lebuh Queen) is one of the oldest streets in Singapore and once had a very strong

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...

presence. Beginning at Arab Street, Queen Street forms major junctions with Ophir Road, Rochor Road, Middle Road and Bras Basah Road before ending at the junction of Stamford Road.

History

The area around Stamford Canal,

Dhoby Ghaut Dhoby Ghaut () is a place in Singapore that often refers to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, a major interchange station on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit network connecting the North-South Line, North East Line, and the Circle Line. As a place, ...

and Selegie Road was known for the laundry services provided by the dhobies (laundrymen) from the

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

days. Many schools of high regard like the

Raffles Girls' Secondary School Raffles Girls' School (RGS) is an independent girls' secondary school located in Toa Payoh, Braddell, Singapore. Established in 1879, it is one of the oldest schools in Singapore. RGS, together with its affiliated school Raffles Institution, off ...

Saint Joseph's Institution St. Joseph's Institution (SJI) is an independent Catholic educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1852 by the De La Salle Brothers, it is the first Catholic school and the third oldest school in the country. SJI has been offering a dual- ...

and the

Catholic High School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

used to be located here.

Churches and hotels

Queen Street is known for the many churches that line it. The oldest

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church still in existence, the

Cathedral of the Good Shepherd The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Singapore, built in 1847. It is located in the Museum Planning Area within the Civic District. Bounded by the parallel Queen and Victoria Streets, and Bras Basah Road ...

, was built in 1847 with the churches of Saint Joseph's,

Saints Peter and Paul Peter and Paul may refer to: * Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle considered together ** Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June in the Catholic liturgical calendar ** St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (disambiguation) * ''Peter and Paul'' (film), 1 ...

and

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, o ...

following after. Other churches on this street include Kum Yan

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Church and Grace Singapore Chinese Church. The Central

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

temple, the oldest in Singapore, which was built on Queen Street in the 1930s, was pulled down in the 1980s to make way for new development and moved to Towner Road. Flats and shops were built on its original site of Queen Street. In June 2016, the Church of Saints Peter and Paul re-opened after completion of a one-year, $8 million restoration. The church, which was listed as a national monument in 2003, had cracks in the walls, a leaking roof, and termites. Because of the historic status of the church, the roof had to be repaired according to the original design; hundreds of nuts and bolts were used rather than welding. Other buildings on this street include the Oxford Hotel, BOC Plaza, Mercure Singapore Bugis,

Bugis+ Bugis+ (pronounced as Bugis Plus), formerly Iluma, is a 10-storey shopping mall located 5 minutes from Bugis MRT station. It is located within the Bugis district of Singapore and opened on 28 March 2009. Building Designed by WOHA, the facade o ...

, Albert Centre Market and Food Centre,

Fu Lu Shou Complex Fu Lu Shou Complex is a shopping centre built in 1983 located at Bugis, Singapore that specialises in Daoist and Buddhist religious paraphernalia. Background Like other Singapore malls which cater to a specific commercial market, the Fu Lu Sho ...

and some shophouses. Queen Street Bus Terminal is also located there. On 7 November 2015, an 11-storey

China Cultural Centre China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

opened. The building is part of an effort to encourage exchanges of art and culture between China and Singapore.

Arts and culture district

In 2014, the section of Queen Street between Bras Basah Road and Middle Road underwent substantial renovation as part of a project to develop the area into an arts and cultural district. Parking spots were removed, sidewalks were widened and benches installed in an effort to create space for holding public events, including in front of the Singapore Art Museum and the Waterloo Centre.

Variant names

names **Sek-a-ni Koi. Sekani in Hokkien (

Min Nan Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...

) means Eurasian, reflecting the presence of Eurasians in the area. **San Ma Lu, which means "the third horseway". **Se Zai Nian Jie, meaning "Eurasian street", referring to the fact that the street was a part of the Eurasian

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

. *

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

names **Dhoby Kampam and Vannan Teruvu, both mean "street of dhobies". *

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

name **

Kampong A kampong (''kampung'' in Malay and Indonesian) is the term for a village in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and a "port" in Cambodia. The term applies to traditional villages, especially of the indigenous people, and has also been used ...

Dhobi, a reference to the laundrymen that dominated the area.

References

{{Reflist Roads in Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Museum Planning Area Rochor